Guess My Race

By Playtime Interactive

Description

A captivating game teaching new ways to think about race and diversity. Featured in the Boston Museum of Science. Great reviews on CNN, Slate.com and Wired.com. Finalist in 2011 "Games for Change" award!

Developed by Dr. Michael Baran, cultural anthropologist at Harvard University, this game will challenge your assumptions about individual people and about race in general.

“What race are you?”

We asked people all over Boston and Los Angeles this very question. The answers that appear in this game are their direct responses.

The object of this game is to examine photographs of ordinary people and to guess their race. After guessing from multiple choices, you then see the right answer along with a direct quote, opening a small window into their experiences of this powerful category of identity. After reading the quote, swipe to the next screen to read a fact or provocative question related to the person. The photograph, quote and fact all work together, enticing you to think more deeply about categories of race, ethnicity, religion, nation, and culture.

•Features over 150 stunning photographs of real people from varied backgrounds.•Great conversation starter.•Play with family and friends – learn together.•References current events and popular media.•Future versions will include the ability to submit your own photograph and quotes!

Acknowledging the complexity of race as a cultural and historical construction is difficult. Despite the challenge, it is critical that we all learn to talk more openly, honestly, and empathetically about these issues. Because when we learn the facts and engage with people about the realities of their lives, we are compelled to actively contest the current state of affairs where inaction, rather than overt racism, perpetuates the inequalities and injustices that linger from the past.

**Check out these great reviews:Slate.com titled: Apps, Afros and Handcuffs: Talking With Kids About Race Wired.com titled: Race Awareness? There's an app for that______________________________

The Guess My Race app is part of the Race Awareness Project, bringing together art, technology, and education to get people talking about race in an entirely new way. Our goal is to make widespread some of the fascinating anthropological, historical, psychological and sociological insights about race – how race developed, how race is historically changing, and how race affects our everyday lives as it intersects with other categories of identity such as ethnicity, nationality, religion, and gender. By teaching about race in an innovative and engaging way, we are working towards promoting respect, understanding and empathy for all people.

What's New in Version 1.2

Screenshots

Customer Reviews

Got me thinking

by
Sky bird1

Very interesting and educational. Great discussion starter. I really learned a lot about other people and cultures. Disregard the negative reviews as they obviously didn't take the time to think about what the app is trying to convey. Just read the instructions at the beginning of the game. It explains that the "race" categories are just how people self identify. Of course there's no real biological definition of race (this is explicitly stated in the app). And the categories are there to make you think. So download this app and start thinking in a new way about people. The world will be a better place if more people did.

Thought provoking

by
a_reputable_source

I just had to comment after an "anthropologist" claimed that we should ignore race because it's "only" a social construct. Clearly a physical anthropologist who slept thru cul-anthro 101. This person is also probably white because (as the app says) only white people have the luxury of ignoring race.

The app itself is delightful. It raises a lot of interesting points. I only got a 1/10, which goes to show you how much self-identified race and perceived race can often vary.

Interesting and Incisive

by
LaRagazza712

As an Anthropology student, I found this app very interesting. It focused not only on the modern arguments for/against the racial categories on the US census, but on the personal reasons for choosing to identify as, say, "Black" rather than "African-American". I enjoyed the blurbs and quotes, and the developers clearly did their share of research, if the statistics presented hold up to reality. Although obviously not completely objective, this app does provide a peek into everyday people's thoughts on race in America.